


What's Cooler than Being Cool? Ice Cold

by Zebra (DQueenie13)



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Dadglovale, Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Fluff, Gen, mild spoilers about Izmir if you don't have her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-11 17:56:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18429158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DQueenie13/pseuds/Zebra
Summary: A few frosty friends gather together. Ding-a-ling-a-ling, someone's at the door!





	1. Chapter 1

“Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Lily’s at the door!” The young Crystalian flung herself in between two figures seated on a sofa. Her fellow Crystalian Erin followed into the room after her, sighing as she gently closed the door.

“Lily, you should greet others properly.”

“Huh? But this is proper! Big sis Lyria and I came up with it together! You should do it too, Erin! Follow me! Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Lily’s here!”

Swept up by the younger girl’s energy, Erin made a valiant attempt to follow up. “Um… D-ding-a-ling-ling… it’s Erin…”

“Sing-along-a-song, Izmir is here!” The silver-haired Draph gave a gentle smile as she swooped to Erin’s rescue.

“See! Big sis Izmir can do it!” Lily turned to the man to her left, reclining against the arm of the sofa. “Your turn, big brother Aglovale!”

As the older man smiled silently, Erin reminded Lily, “I don’t think ‘big brother’ is the right term…”

“Oh! He’s a king, right? So it should be, um… His… His Royal… Royal Majesty?”

Aglovale placed a hand on the back of her head and gently smoothed her hair with his thumb. “You can just call me ‘Aglovale’, Lily.”

As that was going on, Izmir exchanged glances and a small nod with Erin. In an instant, the room froze over in a thick layer of ice. Only the sofa and the four figures remained unaffected; in fact, they didn’t seem perturbed at all.

In the Grandcypher, this room came to be known as “The Freezer.” Izmir’s condition forces her to use her ice magic constantly lest it destroy her from the inside out. Realizing this, Gran and Djeeta set aside a room for her use… and a few particularly cold-resistant friends to keep her company. (And to keep the magic in check so it wouldn’t make the Grandcypher sustain any more damage than it already did on a regular basis.)

To assure Izmir that she wasn’t being a hindrance, the crew also used the room as storage for perishable foods after she was done using the room. Of course, it would slowly thaw (with some “encouragement” from Percival and Elmott, who weren’t altogether pleased with their role as ice-melters), so Izmir could repeat the process as necessary.

* * *

“Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Ag-lo-vale… Hmm…” Lily kicked her legs out in front of her as she hummed various tunes to herself. “Dong-a-long-a-long… Aggu, it’s you…”

Erin wedged herself between Aglovale and Lily, making Lily scooch closer to Izmir. “He can’t exactly sing that about himself, Lily…”

“But…!” Lily pouted at the older girl. “Hmm… His name’s kinda long… Most people don’t have such long names!”

“Lily, that’s not nice to say,” Erin admonished. A smirk danced on Aglovale’s lips as he watched their banter, but his gaze seemed distant, as if concentrating on something else.

The younger girl didn’t seem to care about the admonishment, swaying from side to side as she continued softly singing to herself. “Ring-a-ding-a-ding, ring-a-dong-a-dong, rin rin rin, don don don, ring-a-ding-dong—”

“—Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Aggy, that's me.”

All heads swiveled to look at him, all three of the girls’ faces expressing their surprise as a self-satisfied grin sat on his face. Lily was the first of them to react. “Teehee! Big brother Aggy did it too! See, Erin, see?”

“Hee hee. I didn’t realize you had such a good singing voice,” Izmir gently teased.

“I haven’t done this in a while,” he replied. “I’m afraid I’m getting rusty.”

“Then let’s do it again! Ring-a-ling, ring-a-ling!”

Aglovale and Izmir followed along in chorus. “Ring-a-ling, ring-a-ling!”

“R-ring…ling…ring…” Erin squirmed uncomfortably as she shyly chimed in.

“Eriiiiin, put more energy into it!”

Izmir came to the girl’s rescue once again. “Lily, if Erin isn’t comfortable with it, then leave her be. I’m more surprised you have no problem singing along, Aglovale.”

“As long as you don’t breathe a word about this to the rest of the crew. I have an image to maintain, after all.” He watched as Erin produced a small object from her bag. “Oh? Have you been working on your crystal figurines again, Erin?”

“Yes. I’ve been studying the carbuncles for the past week, like you recommended.” She gently placed her creation into Aglovale’s outstretched hand. As he carefully inspected it, she continued, “Something still doesn’t seem quite right, though. It doesn’t compare to the real thing…”

He gently brushed the crystal-carbuncle’s tail with his thumb. “Well, I see that the proportions have improved greatly since the last one you’ve gifted me. There’s greater detail in the fur and feathers which adds to its realism. But I think it lacks dynamism.”

“Dynamism?”

“You’ve made it stand upright, on all fours, but how often do you actually see a carbuncle do that? They’re usually sitting or curled up around someone. The only time they really use their legs is to jump and propel themselves in the air.”

Erin listened intently. “I see… So it doesn’t feel lifelike because it’s making an unnatural pose… Is that what you mean?”

“That’s how I see it, at least.” Aglovale smiled. “But you are a hobbyist crafter. You aren’t obligated to make it realistic.”

“No, I came out of the Crystal Palace so I could see animals with my own eyes, so your advice has been helpful… and thank you for the animal encyclopedia you gifted me. It’s so much more detailed than the books we had back at the palace.”

The man scrutinized the figurine some more, turning it in his hand. “There was something quite charming about your original figurines, though. Because you had to use your imagination to fill in some gaps, they had a unique quality that can’t be produced by imitating reality.”

She contemplated his words silently. “Do you think my old ornaments were cuter?”

“They’re all cute.”

“They’re always cute!” Lily interjected, leaning into Erin and wrapping her arms around the older girl in a big hug. She pressed her face into Erin’s shoulder, mumbling, “I’m sleepy…”

“It’s the middle of the day, how are you sleepy? Did you sneak off into Lyria’s room again and stay up all night giggling?” The younger girl’s guilty pout told Erin all she needed to know. “Lily. How many times have we gone over this?”

Lily brought out the puppy eyes. “But Eriiiin… Oh! How about I ask Gran and Jeejee for a snack! It’ll wake me up!”

“You shouldn’t ask the captains for snacks so much.”

“I’ll, uh… I’ll ask big brother Vane, then!”

“No, that isn’t what I meant.”

As they bantered, Lily tugged Erin towards the door, though the other girl didn’t bother putting up a fight. This happened every day, and Erin was well aware that Lily was unstoppable when it came to indulging in snacks.

Izmir made the ice blocking the door dissipate into snowflakes so the girls could leave. Once the two adults were left alone, she rose from her seat. “Well now, it’s about time we called it a day, hm? I’ve had enough of the cold.”

* * *

The two walked down the hallway in silence when Izmir spoke up. “You’ve grown fond of those children, haven’t you?”

He arched a brow. “You make it sound like I disliked them.”

“No, but the first day in that room, you never spoke the entire time.”

“Lily was entertaining enough on her own. I don’t think I get tired of her stories… even if she’s repeated them more times than I can count.”

“Does she remind you of your brothers when they were younger?”

A wistful smile crossed his lips. “I suppose Percival was a bit like Lily as a child. Shy, emotional, but kind-hearted.”

“Shy?” Surprised crossed Izmir’s features. “I would hardly have guessed based on the way he acts now.”

Aglovale didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to—they heard the pattering of feet before Lyria appeared before them. A scarf was draped around her neck and shoulders, and she uncharacteristically wore tall, fur-lined boots. “Dong-a-long-a-long, it’s time to come along!”

“Sing-along-a-song, Izmir’s here!”

The two of them looked at Aglovale, who only shook his head with a bemused smirk. Izmir ventured, “Ding-a-ling-a-ling…”

Ignoring it, he brushed past them as he replied, “I’m leaving Erin’s figurine in my room first.”

The Draph woman giggled. “Oh, Lyria dear, he’s just being shy. You see…”

“ _Not another word, Izmir._ ”

But he was too late. Lyria ran up to him, singing his version of the song. “Ding-a-ling-a-ling, Aggy, that’s you! Ring-a-ding-ding! Teehee, sing along with us, Lord Aglovale!”

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud and let loose, Aglovale,” Izmir chided. “You never know if you’ll get an opportunity like this again when you return to Wales.”

“I think you both just want to hear me sing.”

Lyria clung to his free arm. “I do, Lord Aglovale! Come on, sing with us! Ready? Ding-a-ling-a-ling, someone’s at the door!”

Between Lyria’s pleading eyes and the few details of Izmir’s condition she allowed him to be privy to, he caved. “Dong-a-long-a-long, I’ve never seen them before!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aglovale: _Radiates cold_  
>  Lily: Is this a weird Crystalia?


	2. Chapter 2

Aglovale sighed before taking another sip from his wine glass. Of all the ways to end his night, this was _not_ how he’d expected it to go. What he thought would be a nice, quiet night to get some business out of the way somehow turned into an art gallery viewing in his room without his knowledge. The room was dark as rainbow lights danced all over the walls of his room.

“Wow!” Lyria, at least, was enjoying herself. “It’s so pretty! Why is the light turning into all these rainbows?”

“Refractions.” Aglovale knew what he was getting himself into when he opened his mouth, but he had a slight hope that his irate tone would tip the girls off to his displeasure.

The next instant, that slight hope vanished. “What are refractions?”

Aglovale rubbed his temples. He was going to have a terrible headache the next morning, either from the disruptive visitors, a hangover if he kept drinking at this rate, or both. The principles of light and how it worked were not subjects he was in any state to explain at the moment.

“The crystals in Erin’s sculptures are serving as prisms. When light passes through a prism, it makes us see light differently—in this case, it turns into rainbows.” The primal beast Macula Marius, protector of Mother Nature, answered in his stead with a gentle voice.

Lyria beamed. “Marius, you’re so knowledgeable! You know all the ins and outs of nature, don’t you?”

“Of course. How could I protect Mother Nature if I did not understand her? And for being so curious, I can’t help but reward you. Here, head pats for you.”

Lily, who had been watching Izmir and Erin banter back and forth about the appeal of spicy food (or lack thereof, in Erin’s case), darted to Marius’ side. “No fair! I want head pats too!”

“Don’t be jealous now, Lily. You’ll have your turn,” Marius giggled, reaching out with her free hand to gently ruffle the young Crystalian’s hair.

 

_This is cute and all, but it would be cuter if it wasn’t happening in my room at this hour of the night._

Aglovale glanced over at the clock that sat on his desk. The clock hands crept ever closer to 10:30 pm, already past the curfew for younger crew members like Lily. He hadn’t paid attention to the time since his return to his room, but if he had to guess, this had gone on for an hour now.

Normally, if a common area was bustling with activity, he’d just move to another part of the Grandcypher. But because this was happening in _his_ room, he had to keep an eye on them and make sure they didn’t snoop around or accidentally mess up his documents. He spent hours organizing all the forms he had to read through and sign, and he wasn’t about to let a careless bump of an arm sent them toppling to the floor.

Just thinking about the forms made him tired. He suppressed a yawn that threatened to escape, but it didn’t escape the notice of the three standing next to him. Lily slipped away from Marius and leaned over the armrest of his chair to look into his eyes. “Big brother Aggy’s tired!”

“I’m fine,” he quickly responded. Secretly, he wanted Lily to give him some of her energy, but the chill emanating from her body was enough to snap him out of his daze.

Marius tutted. “Have you been running yourself ragged again, Aglovale? Rest is a part of the natural order. You mustn’t fight it.”

“Oh…” A guilty expression crossed Lyria’s face. “Because I wanted to look at Erin’s sculptures, we ended up bothering Aglovale…”

“Lyria,” he started, mustering all the patience in his voice that he could, “if you wanted to see my collection of Erin’s figurines, you should have asked me instead of getting a master key from Noa to enter my room without my knowledge.”

Technically, this wasn’t _his_ room, it was the room he was given whenever he accompanied the crew. As the unofficial second captain of the crew, Lyria also technically had the right to do whatever she wanted on the ship. Internally, Aglovale wondered if he was in the wrong to be annoyed about this breach of privacy.

He didn’t ponder it too much, though, because Lyria touted such a sad puppy face that Aglovale was now the one feeling guilty. Sighing, he continued, “It’s no matter. I’ll get my work done after the five of you return to your rooms.”

A displeased pout formed on Marius’ lips. “No, no, Aglovale. That won’t do at all. Didn’t I just tell you? You must rest; your weariness is evident. Look—you’re so exhausted, your magical resistance has worn off and Lily’s cold is affecting you.”

Indeed, Aglovale had been running his hands up his arms to warm himself up without even realizing it. He huffed in slight indignation but didn’t say anything; Marius had caught him and he had no retort. The shuffling of fabric and the sound of heels against wood could be heard before the man felt the cool touch of the primal beast’s hand on his head. Ignoring his exasperated sigh, Marius gently stroked the top of his head, letting her fingers dip into his blonde locks.

“Marius, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t treat me like a child.”

“All living beings are the children of Mother Nature. You are no exception.” As she spoke, her head pats became heavier, as if to quell any thought he had of brushing her hand away.

Lily practically leapt onto the chair and Aglovale instantly hovered his arm over her back lest she lose her balance. “I wanna pet big brother Aggy’s head, too!” Wasting no time getting to work, her head pats were short and quick. “Lyria! His hair’s so soft; feel it!”

“Just one stroke!” Lyria ran her fingers through the ends of his long hair. “Wow! It really is soft! It makes me wanna play with it forever!”

At this point, Aglovale wanted to sleep forever, but he didn’t voice that thought aloud.

“When he’s feeling more awake, you should ask him about his hair care.” Izmir’s voice cut through Lily and Lyria’s giggling. “Maybe he’ll even let you two braid his hair!”

“Don’t give them ideas,” he muttered back, closing his eyes in a mixture of defiance and exhaustion. Izmir said something back as he heard Erin’s attempts to pry Lily off him, but it all fell into a blur of noise before it faded into silence.

 

* * *

 

When Aglovale awoke, he deduced that Marius must have used her magic on him. Usually he was a light sleeper, but somehow the girls placed his pillow behind his head, his blanket over his body, put all of Erin’s figurines back into their places, and snuck out without waking him. As he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, something on his desk caught his eye.

There was a new ice sculpture with a card next to it. Closer inspection showed cute, diminutive figures of the Freezer group: Lily, Erin, Izmir, Marius, and himself, plus Lyria, standing together in a line. The card read: _Thank you for lending us your room last night, and sorry about the noise!_ The girls signed their names, and Lily added a postscript at the bottom— _Let’s ding-a-ling-a-ling together next time!_

The man huffed, but nonetheless shifted the figurines on the shelf above his bed to clear a space in the middle for his new prize. With a smile he was all too aware of, he centered the card behind it and stepped back to inspect the composition of the various art pieces on his shelf. Satisfied, he stepped out of his room to prepare himself for the day ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wanted to add Macula Marius to the first chapter, but I was working off the Japanese script for her summon/battle voice lines and I couldn't work out her voice or her dynamic with the rest of the Freezer group.
> 
> Fast forward a few days after I published the first chapter, and she was added as a playable character. I pulled Macula and sparked Grimnir, who I've been saving up for since my Aglovale spark back in October.


End file.
